In an act rarely seen in cricket, an annoyed Kieron Pollard, to everyone's astonishment, took strike near the tramline before nearly leaving the pitch, attracting the ire of the umpires during the IPL final here Sunday.
Mumbai Indians' Pollard, though, adamantly stood his ground in protest during the summit clash against Chennai Super Kings.
Bowling the final over of the MI innings, Dwayne Bravo, finding birthday boy Pollard shuffle repeatedly towards the off-stump from his one-leg guard, cleverly bowled fuller deliveries outside the 'tramline' (marked for wide balls) for three dot balls.
On all three occasions, straight umpire Nitin Menon didn't signal wide as expected by Pollard, the reason being the burly batsman's big trigger.
After the third dot delivery, Pollard's frustration was evident as he flipped his bat in the air even though he didn't utter a word.
Just as Bravo got into his stride to bowl the fourth delivery, Pollard, in a mock gesture, left the stumps open and kept walking towards the side of the crease.
The umpires immediately intervened as Ian Gould, from square leg, and Menon, walked towards him to reprimand the senior player for his gesture, which was against the spirit of the game.
There wasn't any verbal protest from Pollard as he just heard them and then went about his business. He, however, had something to smile in the ensuing moments, hitting Bravo for two successive boundaries off the last two balls to take MI to 149 for eight. Pollard made a 25-ball 41 and was the top scorer for his side.
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